There is buying a translator to fill a coverage gap, and then there is what Red Apple Media appears to be doing with 77 WABC across Long Island. The company is adding yet another piece to an increasingly interesting collection of AM and FM signals, this time with an agreement to acquire the 96.5 FM translator in Medford, New York, for $400,000. On paper, it is a relatively small transaction involving a translator. Step back and look at the entire board, however, and the strategy becomes considerably more ambitious. Red Apple isn’t simply trying to make WABC easier to hear. It is methodically extending one of America’s most recognizable talk brands deeper into Long Island and putting more entry points to the product on the dial.
And there is something wonderfully old-school about that.
While everybody else is talking about algorithms, Red Apple is apparently saying
How about another transmitter
Follow the Signals
The newest piece is the 96.5 translator based in Medford, which Red Apple has agreed to purchase from Cántico Nuevo Ministries for $400,000, subject to the usual regulatory process.
The plan is for 96.5 to relay programming through 1370 WLID, another relatively recent Red Apple acquisition.
That matters because earlier this year Red Apple agreed to acquire WLID for $500,000.
Then look farther east.
Red Apple already controls 107.1 WLIR FM, the Class A facility based in Hampton Bays that helps carry WABC programming into eastern Suffolk County.
That station came into the Red Apple universe through a $900,000 acquisition in 2020.
Put the pieces together and suddenly this doesn’t look like a collection of unrelated purchases.
It looks like a map.
Long Island Matters
This is where the strategy gets interesting.
Long Island is enormous.
Not simply geographically.
Population.
Politics.
Commerce.
Commuting.
Advertising.
Lifestyle.
And perhaps most importantly for WABC
potential talk radio listeners
WABC’s legendary 770 AM signal already gives the station substantial reach, but anybody who has spent time in radio understands that coverage on a technical map and listening behavior are two very different things.
Consumers increasingly live on FM.
They scan FM.
They save FM presets.
Some newer listeners may barely think about AM unless there is a specific reason to go there.
So give them another door.
And another.
And another.
That’s what Red Apple appears to be building.
This Is Not About Abandoning 770
Quite the opposite.
There is tremendous value in 77 WABC.
Those call letters carry generations of New York radio history.
You don’t throw that away.
Instead, Red Apple can take the intellectual property associated with WABC and make the method of receiving it increasingly irrelevant.
Want 770 AM
There it is
Want FM
Here you go
Want another FM signal farther out on Long Island
Got one
Digital
Streaming
Podcasting
Social
All of it ultimately leads back to the same thing
WABC
That’s how a heritage radio brand starts behaving more like a modern media property.
And Red Apple Clearly Likes Owning the Pipes
There is another important distinction here.
Plenty of broadcasters talk about extending brands digitally because digital distribution can be inexpensive and theoretically limitless.
Red Apple is doing that too.
But the company continues putting money into terrestrial distribution.
Real frequencies.
Real facilities.
Real coverage.
That’s a vote of confidence in the radio dial itself.
And frankly, after the endless parade of stories about broadcasters selling signals, surrendering licenses and reducing operations, it’s refreshing to write about somebody apparently looking at the dial and saying
We’d like a little more of that please
The Politics Are Almost Secondary to the Business Strategy
Yes, WABC has established itself as a major Conservative Talk outlet.
Its personalities and political identity are central to the product.
But broadcasters of every format should look beyond ideology and examine what Red Apple is doing structurally.
This could be Country.
Sports.
News.
Urban.
Spanish language programming.
Christian radio.
Classic Hits.
The underlying principle remains the same.
If you have a brand people want find more ways for people to consume it
That’s Broadcasting 101 with a 2026 update.
Don’t force the audience to understand your distribution system.
Don’t make them care which transmitter originates the programming.
Don’t expect them to understand translators, simulcasts, HD channels or FCC facility classifications.
They don’t care.
They want to push a button and hear the show.
Our job is to make that easy.
There Is Also a Sales Story Here
More Long Island coverage potentially means more than additional ears.
It can mean additional conversations with advertisers.
Long Island businesses aren’t some minor appendage to the New York economy.
Dealerships.
Healthcare.
Restaurants.
Financial services.
Home improvement.
Legal services.
Retail.
Entertainment.
Political advertising.
Local businesses looking specifically for Long Island consumers.
If Red Apple can demonstrate stronger terrestrial penetration across Suffolk County, suddenly the conversation isn’t merely about WABC adding another place to hear its programming.
It becomes
What can we sell around that expanded footprint
That’s where the transmitter becomes a business strategy.
The Numbers Tell an Interesting Story
Consider the investments involved in the pieces of this Long Island expansion.
The proposed 96.5 translator
400000 dollars
The WLID acquisition
500000 dollars
The earlier WLIR FM purchase
900000 dollars
Those aren’t astronomical numbers in the history of major-market broadcasting.
And that’s precisely what makes this interesting.
Rather than spending tens of millions trying to acquire another giant New York FM facility, Red Apple has been assembling strategic pieces that extend the brand into specific areas.
It’s radio’s version of buying adjoining properties one parcel at a time.
Eventually somebody looks up and realizes
You own the block
AM Radio Should Be Watching This Too
There’s a lesson here for AM operators.
The future of AM doesn’t necessarily require pretending listener behavior hasn’t changed.
Protect the heritage AM.
Promote it.
Fight for its availability in automobiles.
Maintain the signal.
But simultaneously find additional ways into the listener’s life.
FM translators where regulations permit.
Full-power FM simulcasts where economically practical.
Apps.
Smart speakers.
Podcasts.
Connected dashboards.
Streaming.
Video.
The winning strategy may not be AM versus FM versus digital.
It may simply be
YES
Wherever the audience goes
Be there
Red Apple Is Playing Offense
That’s probably the biggest takeaway.
Radio has spent far too much of the last several years playing defense.
Cut this.
Consolidate that.
Eliminate this position.
Sell that signal.
Reduce expenses.
Protect margins.
Do more with less.
And some of those decisions are economic realities.
But you cannot shrink your way into unlimited growth.
At some point somebody has to play offense.
Red Apple’s Long Island strategy looks like offense.
Acquire.
Extend.
Distribute.
Promote.
Monetize.
Repeat.
You don’t have to agree with a single political opinion expressed on WABC to appreciate the radio strategy behind expanding the number of places where consumers can find the product.
And Somewhere an Engineer Is Smiling
Because after years of being told everything is going digital, here’s a company spending actual money on something gloriously traditional
More RF
Somewhere a transmitter engineer just poured another cup of coffee and whispered
I knew they’d come back
We see you.
One Brand With More Doors
That’s ultimately what this is.
770 isn’t disappearing.
107.1 isn’t suddenly unnecessary.
1370 isn’t the whole strategy.
96.5 isn’t the whole strategy either.
Each becomes another entrance into the same larger media ecosystem.
And if Red Apple continues building WABC that way, the fascinating question becomes where the company decides the Long Island footprint is finally complete.
Because judging by the moves already made
they aren’t afraid to keep coloring in the map
A $400000 translator purchase may not ordinarily produce one of the sexiest headlines in broadcasting.
But sometimes the smallest facilities reveal the biggest strategy.
WABC wants Long Island.
Not just part of it.
Not just the places where 770 happens to sound spectacular.
More of it
And Red Apple appears perfectly willing to assemble that reach one frequency at a time.
On The Dial watches the moves that reveal where broadcasters believe the industry is headed. Red Apple Media’s continued investment around WABC is worth watching because it combines one of American radio’s great heritage brands with an unmistakably modern philosophy. Make the content available everywhere the audience wants it and never underestimate the value of making the next listener easier to reach.
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